THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE - PETITION

The Marriage of the Virgin, by Philippe de Champaigne, 1644

There is no need to rehearse here the much publicised attacks upon Marriage, an institution formed by God as part of His plan of Creation (which is why it has existed in most peoples and religions from time immemorial) which are being proposed by this Government, currently undertaking 'consultation' on introducing 'marriage' for people of the same sex.

Members of the Order of Malta, with its charge of Tuitio Fidei, are obliged to engage in this controversy, and to take up suitable arms in the defense of God's created order, and of the Church's indissoluble teaching.

There are many ways in which we can do this, at local, parish and other levels; with our children and their school-friends, and among our own friends.

We should also write to our Member of Parliament, and it is useful to sign petitions when they come up, to make our voices heard in the public square. We should also encourage our Bishops to take a strong stand.

The Coalition for Marriage, a charity set up to fight this battle, has a petition HERE. Please sign it; it only takes a moment. They also have a paper version for distribution to non-computer friends. This campaign is supported by the Catholic Bishop's Conference, as explained by Archbishop Peter Smith HERE.

The Daily Telegraph has a poll, which the 'same-sex-marriage' lobby is currently winning 76-24%. Shame on the supposedly conservative readership of that organ, please visit it HERE to help redress the balance. The question is posed as a choice between being nice to everyone and giving them the 'right' to get married, as opposed to maintaining tradition and God's teaching, which is, by thinly veiled implication, unkind. This modern relativist obsession with being seen to be nice is a spectacular success of the Devil. It seems a very poor bargain to sell one's soul just to be liked by a few random people. It is, nevertheless, endemic.

We must not lose sight of the fact that at last year's Conservative Party conference, in his main speech the Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: ''I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative.''  We are not called upon to understand this statement, but we must as Christians heed it.

The government, hand in hand with the secular cognoscenti, is trying to marginalise religious views as bigoted and out-of-touch: a tasteful silence will only play into the hands of those who use arguments of relativity to attack the values for which we stand and which we know to be right.

The gauntlet has been thrown down, it is our job to take it up.

 

Our Lady of Philermo, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us
Holy Martyrs of England and Wales, pray for us